The United Nations recognized, for the first time, that all children have the right to a clean climate. Something that arose as a result of a recommendation by a UN committee to the countries of the organization in the face of the worsening effects of climate change. A document in which it is accepted that a sustainable environment is essential to truly implement the rights of the little ones.
These are specific obligations under the UN Convention ratified by 196 States, including Portugal, for almost four decades, as confirmed by Beatriz Imperatori, Executive Director of UNICEF in Portugal.
“It is the first time that the Committee on the Rights of the Child makes a comment on the convention focused on climate change and its consequences for the realization of the rights of the child and the actions to respond to the climate crisis that we are currently experiencing. Finally, underscores the importance of giving children a voice and allowing their participation in this entire adaptation process,” acknowledges TSF Beatriz Imperatori.
The current urgency determined this legal guideline at a time when almost half of the world’s children live at extreme or high environmental risk. More than 99% are already exposed to at least one of these hazards. From water scarcity to flooding or exposure to disease and air pollution.
“More than 600 million children are expected to live in areas with water stress. These are overwhelming figures that push us to take more measures,” stressed the Executive Director of UNICEF in Portugal.
Guidelines that UNICEF now wants to convey to governments and all public-private institutions, including companies and non-governmental organizations.
“What we want to do now, once the general comment is officially published, is to disseminate it among the Government and beyond. It is also a great call to mobilize the rest of society, from civil society to companies and all the institutions sector. the private sector together with all the decision-makers and the public sector, which obviously have a very large capacity for action,” he added.
These guidelines are for everyone at a time when the UN’s annual index points to a forecast that nearly 600 million children will be living in areas of extreme climate stress by 2040.
Source: TSF
